Culvert



H. B. BIEHN Oct. 19, 1965 CULVERT Original Filed Aug. 6, 1959 l I 1 l iL "Mum/wh m IN V EN TOR. HAEOL D B. B/EH/V ATTORNEY United States Patent3,212,267 CULVERT Harold B. Bielm, RR. 1, Perry Township, FayetteCounty, Greenfield, Ohio Continuation of application Ser. No. 832,099,Aug. 6, 1959. This application Aug. 22, 1962, Ser. No. 221,396 2 Claims.(Cl. 6115) This is a continuation of my pending patent application Ser.No. 832,099, filed Aug. 6, 1959, now abandoned.

This invention relates to a culvert construction, and more particularlyto a semi-cylindrical culvert construction having means associatedtherewith for effectively precluding turning or rocking thereof incidentto the application of loads to the sides thereof.

An object of the invention is to provide a semi-cylindrical culvert witha grating or load-supporting surface disposed at ground level, andwherein said culvert is provided with anti-rocking, culvert-stabilizinganchor panels or fins.

Another object of the invention is to provide an elongatesemi-cylindrical culvert with simple yet highly effective means forsecuring a grating or load-supporting surface thereto, which surfacespans the upper side edges of said culvert.

A further object of the invention is to provide a multisection culvertwherein each of the individual sections which collectively comprise theculvert is securely and rigidly inter-connected by rigid structuralmembers which extend throughout the entire length of the culvert.

These and other objects are attained by the means described herein andas disclosed in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side phantom-elevational view illustrating a typical culvertconstruction embodying the teachings of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of a culvert embodying the teachingsof the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a top elevational view of the culvert construction of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view on line 44 of FIG. 1.

With particular reference to FIG. 4, the numeral denotes an elongatesemi-cylindrical culvert pipe or conduit fabricated from corrugatedmaterial or the like, and the numerals 12 and 14 denote the parallel,laterally spaced, free upper edges thereof. At this point it should beunderstood that such a semi-cylindrical culvert may be fabricated from alength of conventional cylindrical culvert pipe by cutting or otherwisesevering said pipe along and on opposite ends of a diameter. In FIGS. 2and 3 the letters A and B represent duplicate semicylindrical sectionsprovided as the result of having diametrically severed a length ofcylindrical culvert pipe. The adjacent ends of sections A and B aresuitably overlapped as at C for disposing said sections in axiallyaligned relationship.

The numerals 16 and 18 denote a pair of rigid, elongate, continuousanchor panels or fins which are securely affixed to and carried by theouter periphery of sections A and B of the culvert to project radiallyoutwardly on opposite sides of horizontal axis XX of the culvert. Thatis, panel or fin 16 is in the third quadrant, whereas panel or fin 18 isin the second quadrant.

Uniformly satisfactory results have been obtained in those instanceswherein anchor panels or fins 16 and 18 comprise a leg of elongate,continuous angle irons whose other legs 16 and 18 are rigidly secured tothe culvert by means such as bolting, welding, or the like.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention anchor panels or fins 16and 18 project radially from the outer surface of the culvertintermediate the quadrants in 3,212,267 Patented Oct. 19, 1965 whichthey are located; that is, 16 projects outwardly between upper end 12andthe lowermost portion of the culvert at axis XX; and, by the sametoken, 18 projects outwardly between upper end 14 and the lowermostportion of the culvert at axis XX.

The numerals 22 denote generally a pair of elongate angles, verticallegs 24 of which are rigidly secured to and carried by the upperportions of the semi-cylindrical culvert sections A and B such as bymeans of bolts 26, whereby to dispose horizontal legs 20 in substantialspaced parallelism and projecting inwardly toward one another over andimmediately above upper ends 12 and 14 of the culvert.

Horizontal legs 20 define and comprise bearing surfaces for receivingthe opposite sides of a grating or supporting surface which spans theupper ends of the culvert.

With particular reference now to FIGS. 3 and 4, the grating isillustrated as comprising a plurality of transversely extendingrelatively wide fiat bar elements 40 which are spaced apart, in thelongitudinal direction of the culvert, and bear or rest, on edge, uponthe hori zontal legs 20. These fiat bars are interconnected by means ofstructural elements denoted generally by the numerals 50. Theseconnecting structural elements extend lengthwise of the culvert andcomprise smaller bars, here shown as round rods, which are spaced apartin the transverse direction of the culvert and lie, or are disposed in,recesses 50' in the top edges of the cross bars 40. It will be notedthat the combination of elements 40 and 50 collectively constitute asupporting surface, the upper face or plane of which is adapted to be insubstantial alignment or in the same plane as the ground level indicatedby the letters E and F on opposite sides of the conduit.

The supporting surface or grating may be suitably anchored to theculvert such as by means ofa plurality of L-bolts 40' one leg of each ofwhich is adapted to engage and be secured to an element 40 of thegrating, the other leg being secured to and carried by the underlyinghorizontal leg 20 of the adjacent angle 22.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the adjacent ends of theflat bar elements 40 have side barrier plates 52 secured thereto at andextending across and connecting the ends thereof, said plates 52 beingin substantial vertical alignment with the adjacent vertical legs 24 andextending longitudinally of the culvert.

The culvert is adapted to be installed as best illustrated in FIG. 4, inwhich condition the anchor panels or fins 16 and 18 are fully embeddedin the ground or other ma terial in which the culvert is embeddedwhereby to effectively anchor the culvert against rotation as the resultof the application of a load along one or the other edges of thesupporting member. With particular reference to FIG. 4 it will be notedthat if a truck is driven across the grating from right to left, theinitial application of load adjacent side F would, but for anchor plates16 and 18, tend to rotate the culvert causing side F to lower as side Ewas raised; and as the load progressed toward side E, it would belowered as side F was raised. These inherent shortcomings anddisadvantages of conventional semi-cylindrical culverts have beeneffectively eliminated by the culvert described herein, since it will benoted that I have provided an elongate, semi-cylindrical, multi-sectionculvert having associated therewith simple yet highly effective meansfor precluding accidental or unintentional turning thereof incident tothe application of loads to the upper supporting surface thereof.

Uniformly excellent results have been obtained in those instanceswherein the diameter of the culvert is three feet and wherein theoverall length of the anchor panels 16 and 18 have approximated fourinches; the included angle between said anchor panels 16 and 18approximating 90 degrees. These dimensional characteristics have beenspecified merely by way of example and are not to be consideredrestrictive in any sense.

In FIG. 1 I have illustrated my unique culvert construction between apair of fence posts 70 and 72; however, it should be understood that theculvert may be used in open fields, in the floors of industrialinstallations, and the likein fact, whenever and/or wherever it isdesirable or necessary to provide a reliable load-supporting surfaceacross a drainage ditch, utility trough, or the like.

The present culvert is clearly and importantly distinguishable fromother types of culverts of which I have knowledge, in that it includesfour continuous, elongate, rigid element 16, 18 and 22, which co-operatewith the comparatively light-weight semi-cylindrical culvert forreinforcing same to such a degree as to permit utilization of asemi-cylindrical metallic culvert pipe 10 as the sole means forsupporting and sustaining a loadsupporting grating which, when theculvert is in use, will provide a rugged and durable load-supportingsurface.

It will likewise be noted that angle members 22, in conjunction with theload-supporting grating that spans them, provide a rigid, box-likestructure wherein the forces applied by reason of the application of aload to the grating will be uniformly distributed to the semicylindricalculvert pipe whereby to preclude distortion or deformation of same.

It should be understood that various changes and modifications may bemade in the structural details of the device, within the scope of theappended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A culvert structure, comprising a semi-cylindrical section of culvertpipe, the section having longitudinal side edges, a rigid angle bardisposed longitudinally of each side of said section and having one legthereof positioned against the outer side of the section and having theother leg projecting inwardly across the adjacent edge of the section,said inwardly projecting legs lying in a common plane, means rigidlysecuring the vertical legs of said bars to the pipe section, a gridstructure comprising a plurality of flat, upright, relatively wide barsextending transversely of the pipe section and resting at their endportions upon the said inwardly projecting legs of the angle bars, meansconnecting adjacent ends of said flat bars together and spaced rodmembers extending longitudinally of the pipe section across said flatbars at locations intermediate the ends of said flat bars and joined toand connecting the latter bars together, and means securing certain ofsaid flat bars to the inwardly projecting legs of said angle bars, saidlast mentioned means consisting of L-bolts, each of which has one legthereof extending through the adjacent flat bar and its other legextending downwardly through the said inwardly projecting leg of theangle bar.

2. A culvert structure, comprising a semi-cylindrical section of culvertpipe, the section having longitudinal side edges, a rigid angle bardisposed longitudinally of each side of said section and having one legthereof positioned against the outer side of the section and having theother leg projecting inwardly across the adjacent edge of the section,said inwardly projecting legs lying in a common plane, means rigidlysecuring the vertical legs of said bars to the pipe section, a gridstructure comprising a plurality of fiat, upright, relatively wide barsextending transversely of the pipe section and resting at their endportions upon the said inwardly projecting legs of the angle bars, meansconnecting adjacent ends of said flat bars together and spaced rodmembers extending longitudinally of thepipe section across said flatbars at locations intermediate the ends of said flat bars and joined toand connecting the latter bars together, rigid fin members havingL-shaped cross sections being disposed longitudinally of said section ofculvert pipe on opposite portions thereof, said members being secured byone of their legs to the outer surface of said section of culvert pipewith their other legs disposed radially thereof, and means securingcertain of said flat bars to the inwardly projecting legs of said anglebars.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 212,645 2/79Baumann.

355,185 12/86 Locke. 1,483,095 2/24 Kain. 1,569,777 1/26 Muehleisen61-15 1,886,041 11/32 Frey 9433 2,153,790 4/39 Carswell et al. 61-102,259,335 .10/41 Carswell et a1. 61l1 2,674,857 4/54 Fortes 6116 X2,701,027 2/55 Scoville 94-33 X FOREIGN PATENTS 20,789 1903 GreatBritain.

184,002 8/22 Great Britain.

731,745 6/55 Great Britain.

EARL I. WITMER, Primary Examiner.

BENJAMIN BENDETI, Examiner.

1. A CULVERT STRUCTURE, COMPRISING A SEMI-CYLINDRICAL SECTION OF CULVERTPIPE, THE SECTION HAVING LONGITUDINAL SIDE EDGES, A RIGID ANGLE BARDISPOSED LONGITUDINALLY OF EACH SIDE OF SAID SECTION AND HAVING ONE LEGTHEREOF POSITIONED AGAINS THE OUTER SIDE OF THE SECTION AND HAVING THEOTHER LEG PROJECTING INWARDLY ACROSS THE ADJACENT EDGE OF THE SECTION,SAID INWARDLY PROJECTING LEGS LYING IN A COMMON PLANE, MEANS RIGIDLYSECURING THE VERTICAL LEGS OF SAID BARS TO THE PIPE SECTION, A GRIDSTRUCTURE COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF FLAT, UPRIGHT, RELATIVELY WIDE BARSEXTENDING TRANSVERSELY OF THE PIPE SECTION AND RESTING AT THEIR ENDPORTIONS UPON THE SAID INWARDLY PROJECTING LEGS OF THE ANGLE BARS, MEANSCONNECTING ADJACENT ENDS OF SAID FLAT BARS TOGETHER AND SPACED RODMEMBERS EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY OF THE PIPE SECTION ACROSS SAID FALTBARS AT LOCATIONS INTERMEDIATE THE ENDS OF SAID FLAT BARS AND JOINED TOAND CONNECTING THE LATTER BARS TOGETHER, AND MEANS SECURING CERTAIN OFSAID FLAT BARS TO THE INWARDLY PROJECTING LEGS OF SAID ANGLE BARS, SAIDLAST MENTIONED MEANS CONSISTING OF L-BOLTS, EACH OF WHICH HAS ONE LEGTHEREOF EXTENDING THROUGH THE ADJACENT FLAT BAR AND ITS OTHER LEGEXTENDING DOWNWARDLY THROUGH THE SAID INWARDLY PROJECTING LEG OF THEANGLE BAR.